David Kistle is catching a flight to Birmingham, Alabama to huddle with a few IABC chapters. Or is it back to Minneapolis? to work on his accounts as senior VP at Padilla Speer
Beardsley, where he heads the PR firm's measurement practice. Kistle, the 2004-2005 Chair of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), has been racking up
the frequent flyer miles since becoming IABC Chair last summer. Getting more face time (and expanding the dialogue) with senior communication execs is just part of Kistle's
agenda. Perhaps more important, he's eager to go beyond typical PR circles to make the IABC more well-rounded as it relates to the concerns of corporate America. To that end, he's
launched a new blog to address myriad issues facing senior PR execs (http://blogs.iabc.com/chair/). Fair to say, he's got a full plate these days. (Kistle also is an adjunct
professor of communications at the University of Minnesota and Webster University in St. Louis.) But he still found time to chat with PR News about what's ahead for the IABC,
measurement trends, and the benefits of a nimble Board of Directors.
You set out several goals for your tenure, including growth, visibility and transition. How do you make sure these goals lead to real change in the PR field?
We'll get more growth by listening more closely to our members and providing the kind of market research into [PRs] products and services that can attract new members.
Visibility means having our board members and staff members get out there more often to tell people what the IABC is all about.
We also need to interface more often with the business pages -- and the issues they're covering -- to make the IABC more relevant. And that's not just for consumer-oriented
stories or product launches, but nonprofits, multinationals, B2B and other businesses.
Our transition includes reducing the number of board members to 12 from 24. This will make for a more nimble cohesive organization with longer terms, which will provide
continuity and serve our institutional memory and result in better decisions.
Most people think of the movie "Sweet Smell of Success" when asked what a PR person does, if that. As IABC Chair how are you going to change that mindset?
We need to learn to manage our communications better and have more of an influence on probable outcomes. A lot of our advocacy has been underreported and we need to find better
ways to become part of government issues, part of public policy. We're experts at getting information out and should be part of the larger debates going on in the country right
now.
Do you think too many PR execs are cowed by the idea that if they really speak up they risk losing their jobs?
That kind of reluctance is driven by a fear that underlies a lot of organizations. My hope is that [PR execs] can operate confidently and be able to speak up. In terms of not
speaking up you have to consider the reality of hidden motivations within the company and each individual's career aspirations. IABC is initiating a global look at business ethics
that should provide a framework to guide communications and PR executives' confidence in challenging the leadership of the company.
Where do you think the measurement pendulum is swinging?
[The profession] has become much more sophisticated at organizing media coverage for clients and we have advanced well beyond analytical tools. What's still missing is the
output. We have to move to the point where PR can show how it contributes to sales, which is the endgame for most companies. So, we're somewhere in between what happened [with
coverage] and what kind of response the coverage is having in terms connecting to overall business goals and financial performance.
Do you think it would serve the PR profession better if the various trade groups rallied around some universal [measurement] guidelines?
Yes. I don't have a lot of insight into why there's been resistance, and we are leery of a legislative approach. That said -- standards would give all of us a framework that
management and PR executives can embrace. I like the idea of an a la carte approach to make our measures meaningful and relevant across the board.
Aside from measurement, what do you see as the big PR issues heading into 2005?
Managing crisis is always on the radar. Also, ROI on PR has to become part of the economic equation. Clients are demanding it but nobody has any real answers yet. Moving
forward, [ROI] definitely has to be built into managing the account and PR execs need to take responsibility to showing returns over the long-haul and not just from quarter to
quarter. A lot of [measurement] is being driven by industry, but as a profession we need to take the lead. PRN